


Belated 19th

by adenei



Series: After the War [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adenei/pseuds/adenei
Summary: Ficlet for Hermione's Birthday, and companion piece following "Where Do We Go From Here?"
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Series: After the War [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931173
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Belated 19th

Hermione was sitting at the small desk in Ron’s room. Harry was lying on the camp bed. It had been a week since the Battle of Hogwarts, and the Weasley family was downstairs working out the details for Fred’s funeral the day after next. Both Harry and Hermione had been invited to stay, but they both had exchanged glances where they understood that this was a time for the red headed family to be together.

So there Hermione sat, with a quill in her hand and an empty sheet of parchment. She’d dipped the quill in ink, but couldn’t commit to writing. In all honesty she wasn’t sure where to start. 

“Everything alright, Hermione?” Harry had been watching her for the last few minutes.

“What? Oh, er, yes of course,” Hermione said quickly, looking back at the parchment. 

She couldn’t decide the best way to approach the trip to Australia. She could travel the muggle way, booking a flight, and then reserve a room at a hotel in Melbourne. She still had much of her savings left, but that would deplete what money she had faster than she preferred, especially considering she had no idea how long it would take to find her parents, let alone convince them to come home. 

Or, she could do what she was planning on, which was writing to Kingsley and ask for his assistance. But he’s most likely swamped with everything at the Ministry, and surely he has more pressing matters than helping me find my parents, Hermione reasoned with herself. 

“Okay, Hermione, really. You’ve never been at a loss for words. Who are you trying to write to?” Harry interrupted her once more.

Tears began to fill her eyes. “I’m trying to make a plan to find my parents,” she said quietly. Harry watched her, waiting to see if she was going to continue. “I’m having trouble deciding whether to travel by muggle transportation, or ask Kingsley for help. He has enough going on at the Ministry, and I’m sure this would be the lowest on his priority list.”

“Hermione, you know he’d help if you asked. Anyone would help if you asked. Please tell me you’re not trying to do this alone.” 

“Well, it’s not like I’ve finalized any plans yet. I’ve just been thinking about it, and I want to start making decisions. If I plan to return to Hogwarts in the fall, which I am, that isn’t going to give me a lot of time to travel, search, locate, and convince my parents to return home to England.”

“Have you talked to Ron about any of this?” Harry wasn’t thrilled that she’d managed to dodge his statements.

“Well, no...not yet. He has enough going on with the funeral, and I don’t want to pull him away from his family right now. That would be rather selfish of me,” Hermione tried to reason.

“You’re being selfish by not including him, if you ask me,” Harry said simply. He’d waited far too long for his best friends to get it together, and he was not about to see it fall apart because Hermione was being thick. “Talk to him. He could probably use the distraction. And write the letter to Kingsley.”

“Harry-” Hermione started.

“I’m serious, Hermione.” Before Harry could continue, the door opened and Ron walked in.

“Serious about what?” Ron asked.

“Helping Hermione with a plan to find her parents,” Harry answered. Hermione shot him the worst glare that she could muster.

“Oh, well, I’ve already got that sorted,” Ron said as his ears turned a light shade of pink.

“I’m sorry, what?” Hermione looked confused.

“Er, yeah. I’ve been talking with Dad and Percy, who’ve been in contact with Kingsley about it. They’re working on getting portkeys set up for travel, and I think Percy said something about the Ministry taking care of the lodging,” Ron explained.

“Ron, when did you-? How did you..?” Hermione was having difficulty formulating full questions.

“A few days ago. I knew you’d want to get going with finding them,” Ron shrugged. “And it’s given us something to focus on besides clean up and, well, you know,” he muttered.

Before Hermione realized what she was doing, she dropped the quill on the desk and had pounced on Ron, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.

“It was the least I could do,” he said as he held her. Neither of them realized that Harry had slipped out of the room.

Hermione leaned back to look at him. “The least you could do? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, er, it’s nothing. Silly, really.” Ron tried to play it off in hopes that she’d forget it.

“No, really, Ron, tell me. Please?” Hermione pressed.

“Well, I would have asked for the help anyways, but I realized I didn’t get you anything for your birthday this year. Or Christmas. So, you could maybe think of this as a belated birthday present? I promise I’ll make it up properly when I can make some mo-” Ron was cut off as Hermione’s lips met his.

“This is perfect,” she murmured against his mouth. “I don’t need anything else.”

“Doesn’t mean anything,” he told her as his lips met hers again. “I do have one question that I’ll need an answer for Kingsley, though,” Ron said after a bit of a snog.

“Oh?” Hermione questioned.

“Will we need one room or two?” Hermione looked at him oddly, as if she didn’t understand the question. “You know, for lodging.”

“Why would I need two?” she asked.

“You know I’m coming with you, right?” Ron raised an eyebrow as he responded to her question with a question.

“Ron, I couldn’t make you-” Hermione started.

“You aren’t making me do anything, and you’re mental if you think I’m letting you go alone,” he said firmly. “So one room or two?”

Hermione pretended to think a moment to make Ron wait it out. Finally, she said, “One,” with a sly smile. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before turning to head down the stairs to see if Mrs. Weasley needed anything, or if Mr. Weasley or Percy was still there to talk through some details. It may be a very belated birthday present, but it was the best one yet.


End file.
